RNLI makes seven vital rescues from Teddington base

River safety messages seem to be getting through to people, after Teddington RNLI launched fewer times last year than in 2012.

A total of seven rescues were made by the Teddington crew, from a total number of 16 launches. In 2012 the crew made 11 rescues from 53 launches.

London lifeboat crews rescued 372 people from the Thames in 2013, which is enough people to fill more than four of the capital’s double-decker buses, and 25 lives were saved.

Peter Dawes, regional operations manager for the RNLI, said: “To think that 25 people, that’s more than two football teams, would have died last year in London if it weren’t for the bravery of our lifeboat crews is a sobering thought, but one we are immensely proud of.

“As long as people are in distress, the RNLI will be there to help.

“As a charity we rely on donations from the public so those 372 people who were rescued last year would not have been possible without the dedication of our fundraisers and the generosity of our extended family of supporters.”

There is crossover with lifeboat station, which saved six lives this year, when two vessels or needed or the people in trouble drift along the river.

Teddington lifeboat pulled two men out of the Thames whose boat had capsized in August after one of the men’s shirts got wrapped around the boat’s propeller.

Rowers had a lucky escape in September when their boat split in half when it got caught sideways against one of the piers at Barnes bridge.

The crew also investigated reports of a dead body spotted on the foreshore in Barnes, which turned out to be the corpse of a giant catfish.

Chiswick lifeboat station towed a boat with 122 passengers onboard to safety after its propeller snagged and the boat got stuck in the mud a few 100m short of Kew pier in August.